Tag Archives: Castles

The Time Machine

During this semi-isolation we live in now I’ve managed to get to some long forgotten projects. A quarter of a century ago, in 1995, we went to Sherborne, England for our first Home Exchange. We were still in an analog universe without digital cameras, cellular phones, social media and the high speed Internet we know today. So our negatives and journals, after a cursory perusal, went the way of all vacation memories at the time, deep in a drawer. We have decided to rediscover what we did and how we felt about it. Come along.

1995

Wendi has been organizing our very first European Home Exchange for over a year at this point. We fly out on March 23rd for a 5 1/2 week trip to England. We’ll be spending our first 3 1/2 weeks in Sherborne, Dorset at the home of the Rouses, two teachers at the Sherborne Boys School, one of a few exclusive institutions that molds entitled little rich kids into the leaders of tomorrow. Then we’ll be off to London for two weeks in a small studio flat in Covent Gardens.

This is a real act of faith for us. Leaving our home and business for almost a month and a half feels very risky. Our clients are a bit shocked and not particularly happy, as most are corporate types that get two weeks off at the very most. We’re not sure if there will be business when we return. Time will tell.

At this point I should tell you a little about the exchange. We have discovered that our exchangers, Tony and Jan Rouse, share the same last name but are, in fact, not married or even together. They are just good friends. When we were picked up at Heathrow it was explained to us that we could stay at either Jan or Tony’s house, but that Tony’s house, the Firs, was larger and directly across the road from Sir Walter Raleigh’s Castle. Wow, a house with a name, next to a castle, that’s the one for us. It was only after we were dropped off that the fatal flaws in our decision became apparent. Tony lives all alone, he’s a bachelor and all that entails, beginning with a very unfortunate kitchen and two bathrooms in crisis. As for the view of the castle, actually it’s about as charming as a huge crumbling pile of rubble can be.

I’ll feel better after a quick shower, but wait I can’t open my luggage. The name tag says Capt. Thompson. Who the hell is Capt. Thompson? I call British Airways, “Hello Mr. Peterson, we’ve been expecting your call. You apparently have Capt. Thompson’s bag. He’s on his way to Nairobi now, so we’re going to send a driver by your place to pick up the Captain’s bag and bring it here. We’ll try and get your bag out to you in a couple days. OK?” I pause as my jet lagged brain tries to think this through. “Mr. Peterson, you still there?” “Yes, but I’m afraid your plan won’t work for me. What I will do is exchange bags with you. Bring me my bag and you get the Captain’s bag.” After three solid minutes of dead air time she finally agreed. The driver arrives just after midnight, topping off the longest day of my life.

Sherborne Abbey

Christians have worshipped where the Abbey stands for over 1300 years. When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539 his good buddy, Sir John Horsey, acquired Sherborne Abbey with plans to demolish it. The townspeople, only about 2000 strong, rallied together and heroically managed to raise what would be over $445,000 today to save the church.

Our new friends have organized a little tour of the Abbey. Their friend is the cathedral organist and has promised to show us around.The organist was so kind and hospitable. To the surprise and delight of people visiting the cathedral, he even belted out a little ditty for everyone’s enjoyment. He then took us up the secret stairway to the roof for a view of the town.

After the tour we headed over to the Digby Tab for a few Imperial pints of Strong Bitter. The organist arrived after a couple rounds. I stood up and announced to the assembled crowd that he has the largest and most beautiful organ I have ever seen. I’m certain that they are still teasing him and laughing about the dumb American.

Don, Edith, Cyril and the Organist at Sherborne Abbey

Stonehenge

When you could still walk up and touch these magical stones.

Beer

A quaint little Cornish village perched on hillside overlooking the English Channel. We decided to stay here simply because it’s named Beer. Seemed like a no-brainer.

We stayed at the Colebrooke House. At breakfast we tried to chat with the owner and asked if he had grown up in Beer and what he did for a living before starting a B&B. He immediately dressed us down for being far too farmilar and explained that the English would never take such liberties with a stranger. As soon as he left the room the ladies at the next table came over, introduced themselves and told us the landlord was full of bullocks and just being an old grump.

Tintagel Castle

A medieval fortification located on the island of Tintagel, the castle was built by Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall in the 13th century.

It has been a tourist destination since the 1930s when visitors began coming to see the ruins of Richard’s castle. Tintagel Castle has long been associated with the legends of King Arthur.

Geoffrey of Monmouth created the Arthurian myths that are still popular today. In the 12th century he described Tintagel as the place of Arthur’s conception in his mythological account of British history. Geoffrey wrote that Arthur’s father, King Uther, was disguised by Merlin’s sorcery to look like the Duke of Cornwall, so he could sneak into the Duke’s bedroom and have his way with Igraine, Arthur’s mother. A sort of 12th century date rape.

Trevigue, Crackington Haven, Cornwall

We drove to Trevigue down a very narrow country lane after dark. The fog was so thick that we didn’t realize that just 15′ to our left was a 100′ cliff above the Irish Sea. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, Trevigue has been a farm since before the Norman Conquest.

Further North

Warwick castle

London

It’s Easter Sunday and we’re on the train to London for our last two weeks. We’ve rented a very small apartment in Covent Gardens from Mr. Almaz. Apparently it’s his son’s place and the old man puts him out whenever he can get a renter. It’s teeny but clean and the son has tons of movies. We haven’t turned on a TV in over a month.

The Imperial War Museum

Much to my surprise, this place is great. World War II is clearly England’s defining moment and this extraordinary museum gives you a real feel for the devastation and aftermath of the conflict. We even took a simulated bombing run over Berlin.

The Tower of London

It’s not really a tower, it’s a walled fortification that encloses a jail, an armory, a jewel house, chapel, royal houses and apartments. The Beefeater that served as our tour guide told us that in centuries past it was a very unpleasant place that the Royals would only come to when there was a threat of attack. The sewer system in particular was suspect. It was designed with the thought that the tidal river would wash the waste out to sea twice a day. Apparently it never worked and left the whole place smelling like an open septic tank. A lot is made of the famous beheadings that took place on the Tower Green, but apparently most executions took place outside the complex on Tower Hill so the bloodthirsty public could attend. Executions inside the complex were more solemn affairs not meant for immediate public consumption.

The Queen’s Apartments, The Tower of London

The condemned entered the Tower through this passage.

Anne Boleyn and countless others spent their final days in this very room.

Touring With Her Majesty

An Imperial Pint at the King’s Arms, London

Schwerin – the Florence of the North

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Schwerin

This lovely storybook city in Northern Germany is referred to as the Florence of the North. The capital of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, Schwerin has a population of about 150,000. It is surrounded by lakes, the largest of these being the Schweriner See, the third largest in Germany.

City Market Square

At the end of World War II, Schwerin was taken by United States troops. It was then turned over to the British on June 1, 1945. One month later, on July 1st, it was handed over to the Soviet forces, and the British and American forces pulled back from the line of contact to the predesignated occupation zones.

Schwerin was then in the Soviet Occupation Zone which was to become the German Democratic Republic (GDR). After reunification in 1990 it once again became the capital of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen.

The Trace of the Lion Monument

This monument on the Market Square in Schwerin was built in 1995 by the controversial German sculptor Peter Lenk. It commemorates the 800th anniversary of the death of the city’s founder Heinrich the Lion. During his lifetime, Henry, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, was one of the most powerful men in his region of the world. He founded the city of Schwerin in 1160, Munich in 1157 and Lübeck in 1159. During his reign, he ruled over a territory that reached from the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas all the way to the Alps.

The Trace of the Lion Monument – Stock Photo

The nearly 15-foot-tall monument features a lion, Henry’s heraldic animal. The sides show curious scenes associated with Henry’s life. The most bizarre scene depicts the duke riding through a gauntlet of people flashing their buttocks. Legend has it that when Henry arrived in the town of Bardowick, its contemptuous residents received him with their pants pulled down to reveal their bare behinds in an expression of anger at the Duke’s punitive trade policy that promoted Schwerin and Lübeck as important trading places and caused Bardowick to lose it’s prestige.

The Trace of the Lion Monument

Schloss Schwerin – Schwerin Palace

Stock Photo

The first records of a Slavic fort at this small island date from AD 973. In 1160, the fort became a target of Henry the Lion. The Slavs destroyed the fort before leaving but Henry recognized the strategic importance of the location and immediately started building new defenses. He also had the first foundations of the city of Schwerin laid the same year. In 1167, Henry gave the County of Schwerin to his vassal Gunzelin von Hagen, who formed a ducal hereditary line that lasted until the revolution of 1918 which resulted in the abdication of the Grand Duke.

Schwerin Palace

SchwerinCastle

Schwerin Palace – The Throne Room

The shelves that surround this beautifully paneled room are supported by individually craved animals.

Petermännchen ,“Little Peterman”

Every good castle has to have a ghost. Meet Petermännchen.

Petermännchen – “Little Peterman” – Quid Si Sic “What If So”

This good-natured household spirit is only a few feet tall, is often described as carrying many keys, roaming through the vaults and tunnels underneath the castle, unlocking doors as he goes. He has a cavalier look with a stylish moustache, wearing a waistcoat, riding boots with spurs and a feathered hat. He is said to carry a lantern and sword and is the keeper and watchman of the castle, rewarding those who are honest and good. Conversely he will punish or drive away thieves and intruders. To do so Petermännchen will cause a nuisance or play pranks, crashing and banging through the night. He also wakes soldiers who have fallen asleep on their watch in order to save them from being punished.

The Winter Room

The ceiling decoration in the Winter Room is made of paper mache and covered with three millimeters of gold foil. The builders discovered that paper mache was far superior to paster or stone carving. It’s faster, lighter, cheaper and can be pressed into molds so the designs are infinitely repeatable.

The Winter Room

Queen Luisa of Prussia

This beautiful portrait of Queen Luisa of Prussia hangs in the Winter Room and was painted in 1812 by W. Temite from a drawing made on her deathbed. The covered hands and palm fronds in the veil would have indicated to viewers that the portrait was posthumous.

Queen Luisa of Prussia

Albrecht II

I’ve always insisted that no matter how peculiar some folks seem to look there had to be some point in the day when they caught sight of their own reflection and thought, “Yea, I look pretty cool.”

Albrecht II

I’ll bet the pliers hanging from his waist were to help get in and out of that getup.

Albrecht II – Detail

The Staatliches Museum

Staatliches Museum

The Staatliches Museum Schwerin (State Museum Schwerin) was established in 1882 and is nationally known for its medieval collections well as one of Europe’s most significant collections of French-American artist Marcel Duchamp.

Staatliches Museum

Besides the Alte Meisters (Old Masters), we are here primarily for the GDR Show.

Hinter dem Horizont – Beyond the Horizon …
GDR art from the collections of the Staatliches Museum Schwerin

Schwebendes Liebespaar (Floating Lovers) – Wolfgang Mattheuer – 1970

The exhibition brings together around 100 paintings, drawings, graphics and sculptures some maintaining the prescribed ideologies of the times, others not so much. Here’s just a few.

Bildnis Karl Michel (Portrait of Karl Michel) – Clemens Gröszer – 1988/1989

Der Fotograf Dieter Schmidt (The Photographer Dieter Schmidt) Volker Stelzmann – 1975

Christine – Volker Stelzmann – 1974

The Bitterfeld Way

Artists were called upon to seek out their subject matter in factories or in the countryside. Proximity to the working populace was a programmatic specification of the cultural policy.

“In our time, a contribution to socialist art must consist primarily in encouraging the working people of socialist society to actively shape their lives.”

Fischer und Studenten (Fishermen and Students) – Konrad Homberg -1963/1964

Aufbau der Stalinalee (Construction of the Stalinalee) – Hedwig Holtz-Sommer – 1952

Schweinemeister Richard Thieß (Pork Master Richard Thiess) – Carl Hinrichs -1963

Junger Bauarbeiter (Young Construction Worker) – Walter Howard – 1964/1965

“The working day seems to be approaching its end. The excitement at the prospect of knocking off is unmistakable. This image, marked by optimism and a lust for life, can be understood as a metaphor for the dawning of a new age.”

Jugendbrigade im Aufbruch (Youth Brigade On The Move) – Carl Hinrichs -1962

On Gorbachev’s Reforms In The Soviet Union

“Incidentally, if your neighbor redid the wallpaper in his apartment, would you feel obliged to redo the wallpaper in your apartment as well?”

Jean-Baptiste Oudry – An Alte Meister

Oudry was a much favored 18th century French painter that specialized in animals in conflict, but also had a keen eye for the historical significance of many of these amazing creatures.

Rhinozeros (Rhinoceros) – Jean-Baptiste Oudry – 1749

The Indian rhinoceros “Jungfer Clara” came to Versailles and Paris in 1749. Oudry studied her at the fair at St, Germain. At the time very few people had seen one of these creatures. It must have seemed as alien to the 18th century viewer as a Martian. The life-size portrayal became a memorial to this magnificent rhinoceros.

Rhinozeros (Rhinoceros) – Jean-Baptiste Oudry – 1749

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste, produced a highly successful and widespread engraving of Clara’s portrait, which allowed a much larger audience to view this amazing animal.

These large scale paintings of animals at battle were highly favored in the royal houses and palaces of Europe in the 18th century.

Jean-Baptiste Oudry

Let’s finish with a great German artist.

Selbstbildnis/Self-Portrait – Paul Kuhfuss – 1925

Paul Kuhfuss, a classically trained Berlin artist, was hugely prolific and left an archive of over 5,300 works of art.

Herr Kuhfuss was also a man of conscience. In October of 1935, he was denounced by the Gestapo as member of the artist association “Berlin North”, for his resistance to the Nazi cultural propaganda and his defense of Jewish colleagues. Participation in art exhibitions in Berlin was no longer possible until after the war.

The Wendi Files – 2018.1

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People have been clamoring for the Wendi Files but rather then burden everyone with endless tales of blood-curdling debauchery, I thought we could start off slow and just let her never-ending wackiness unfurl at it’s own pace.

Happy In Haarlem, NL

The Singer-Laren Museum, NL

The National Museum of Modern Art – Edinburgh

Riddles Close – Edinburgh

Krollen-Muller, NL

Edinburgh

Charity Shop In Banchovy, Scotland

Cullen Bay, Scotland

The National Museum of Modern Art – Edinburgh

Enjoying the wildlife at Balmoral Castle

Edinburgh

With Barney In Edinburgh

Castle Fraser – The Top of the Tower

Castle Drum – Honey, we’re home.

Welcome To The Vintage Market At New College, Durham, U.K.

Buddying up to Victoria at Kelvingrove Museum, Glascow

Albatross Imitation At Kelvingrove Museum, Glascow

A Pub In Ballater

Balmoral Castle – She said, “You know we could rent a couple and race each other?”

New Friends in FoggieLoon, Scotland

Kirkcudbright

A Nap At Castle Drum

Wendi said she’d rest on the lawn at Castle Drum while I climbed the Tower. The groundskeeper came over and nudged her to make sure she hadn’t expired.

A House With A View

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The Castle Tour – Episode 6

This is what the Kennedy Clan calls home. Not bad.

Motto: “Consider the End”

Culzean Castle

The Kennedy Clan dates back to at least the 1200s when Cunedda, the Grim-headed, was sent to southwest Scotland to defend the region from sea raids.

They have absolutely no connection to the American Kennedys.

Culzean Castle

Culzean Castle was constructed by order of the 10th Earl of Cassilis. The castle was designed by architect Robert Adam and was built in stages between 1777 and 1792. The building and large drum tower were built to take full advantage of it’s location overlooking the sea.

Culzean Castle

The Power Plant

For the interiors, symmetry was the order of the day. Only one of these doors is functional. The left hand one is just there to balance the other and goes nowhere. There are maids bells on each side of the fireplace. The right one works, the left one is a dummy. This concept is seen in every room of the house.

The Lion & The Mouse

I love this 17th century painting by Paul de Vos. It depicts the final scene in the classic fable by Aesop. In the oldest versions, a lion is woken from sleep by a tiny mouse. The mouse begs for the lion’s forgiveness explaining that such lowly prey couldn’t possibly bring the lion any honor. When the roaring lion is trapped by hunters, the mouse remembers its clemency and gnaws through the ropes to free the giant beast. The moral being that mercy brings its own reward and there is no being so small it cannot help a greater. This fable has been reinterpreted by many different cultures the world over, some coming to much different moral conclusions.

Paul de Vos

Sir Thomas Kennedy

Thomas Kennedy

Accorded to the guide, Sir Thomas Kennedy was considered a real piece of work. Rumor has it that in an attempt to forcibly procure land from a neighbor, he and his henchman strapped the poor man to a spit and slowly roasted him until he agreed to sell. The man recovered and the sale was revoked, but the chief men of Ayr agreed to slay Sir Thomas Kennedy the first opportunity they got. On May 11 1602 he was murdered just outside the town of Ayr.

Artistic License

Everything in these mansions is designed to impress, even commissioned paintings. These two fine paintings by Alexander Nasmyth are no exception. The first shows the island of Ailsa Craig in the misty distance just off shore. The island is considerably further south and impossible to see from the house. The second painting shows Culzean Castle from the sea, sitting on a bluff that is at least three times as high as the real thing. Impressive, yes, accurate, hardly.

Culzean Castle From The North With Ailsa Craig By Alexander Nasmyth

Culzean Castle From The Sea By Alexander Nasmyt

For A Job Well Done

Dwight Eisenhower

The Kennedy family retained ownership until 1945 when they gave the castle and its grounds to the National Trust for Scotland with one stipulation. The apartment at the top of the castle was to be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the Second World War.

Ike first visited the castle in 1946 and stayed there four times, including once while President of the United States.

A Message For Our Times

“ If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They’ll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government.”

Dwight Eisenhower.

While The Queen’s Away

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The Castle Tour – Episode 4

Balmoral Castle

Balmoral, Autumn, 1896 by Joseph Donovan Adam

Balmoral Castle sits just outside the little town of Ballater, the home of the Deeside train station where the royal family, until the 1960s, would arrive by train for their holiday time. The train station sustained serious fire damage and has just completed a £3million restoration project. The museum and shops it houses are scheduled to reopen by late summer. Ballater is a nice little town that is very dog friendly and has lots of small shops and a few good pubs.

Deeside Train Station

Ballater Library

The Balmoral Bar

Dogs are welcomed in all the pubs.

A place to tie your dog if you’d rather.

Golf has always been big in Ballater.

I love this glass.

Balmoral, the Queen’s over 50,000 acre country estate and holiday get-away, is surrounded by some amazing countryside of hills, mountains meadows, moors, valleys and rivers.

The River Dee

The Castle Itself

It really is an estate, in that, it does not meet the criteria previously stated in regards to castles. It’s more a huge house designed to look like a castle. Beyond a tower there are really none of the classic castle defense schemes in place. There are large windows on the ground floor, there are no narrow passageways to dissuade the advance of angry rebels, no uneven stairways to impede armor clad knights, no peep holes, lug holes or murder holes. It is a gentle welcoming place. The SWAT teams could probably just walk in the front door. Even though it is, a sort of, make believe castle, it is beautiful and packed with history. These attractions become somehow obligatory, like the Prime Directive, you’ve come this far you just have to go. To not go would be akin to traveling to Egypt and turning your back on the pyramids. The universe just won’t allow it. If nothing else, you get to breath the same air that the Queen breathes.

And talk about well organized, OMG. Absolutely nothing is left to chance, either in the running of the estate or in the welcoming of visitors. The surrounding forest and countryside is maintained like a huge carefully crafted garden. The forests are constantly culled of older dying trees to make way for new growth. Any spread of disease or infestation is closely monitored and eradicated. The wildlife population is strictly maintained at optimum levels. The appearance of any unwelcome species or predators that may disrupt this perfect balance is, like an invading army, quickly and aggressively dealt with. Wendi was thrilled to discover that the native red squirrels are protected and that the disease carrying grey squirrels have been pushed out.

The Queen’s Mailbox

The movement of visitors through the estate is just as efficient. Parking is off-site, after purchasing tickets at the gate you are offered the choice of a pleasant 15 minute walk through the woods to the visitor center/ cafe/ gift shop/ toilets/ movie presentation/ picture gallery/ historic vehicle garage /stables or you can ride in the small transit vehicle that leaves every 7 minutes, exactly. Once there, you can pick up a free audio guide, in virtually any language, and then you are on your own. You are free to wander well groomed grounds, gorgeous gardens and wondrous woodland paths.

As for the house, well, there will be no traipsing around the halls, bedrooms or kitchens of the inner sanctum, with or without shoes. Access is restricted to the ballroom where a very nice display of historic paintings and photos depict the royal family’s relationship with Balmoral, examples of beautiful Cairngorm crystals unearthed on the estate, some of the jewelry made with it and lots of pictures of the dogs. Unfortunately, absolutely no photos are to be taken in the ballroom, with or without the flash. This is a policy I have never quite understood. What do they imagine people might do with them? Perhaps it’s just a control thing.

The “battlemented” porte cochères, or “carriage porch”, is covered to protect guests from the frequent rain and snow.

The tower and “pepper pot turrets” are characteristic features of the Scottish Baronial style.

Pepper pot turrets

Side Notes:

Queen Victoria purchased the estate in 1852 after the previous owner choked to death on a fishbone.

The highly successful TV series the Crown, as well as, the films The Queen and Mrs. Brown figure events that happened at Balmoral, but none of them included footage actually shoot here.

The Red Squirrel

The Red Squirrel: A future in the forest // A Photo Book @Neil McIntyre

This photo is from a self-published book project by photographer Neil Mcintyre, the proceeds of which will help ensure a future for these amazing creatures in the UK. If you’d like to check out the book and project go to their Kickstarter page: The Red Squirrel – A Photo Book

In the Land of Lairds & Lords

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The Castle Tour – Episode 1

We thought it would be fun to see some castles in Scotland only to discover that this place is littered with them. Depending on how you define a castle, estimates can range in the thousands. According to self-styled Castle Hunter David Weinczok, it has to be able to defend itself, “Would a SWAT team have a hard time getting in?” For us it’s much simpler, they only have to meet two criteria, they have to look really cool and, most importantly, have furniture. That’s right furniture.

We have no interest in rubble. I’m certain some of you history buffs are aghast and that there are amazing stories about the people and events that occurred in some of these ruins, but we just don’t have the time and, lets be honest here, visually, a pile of rocks is, well, a pile of rocks.

So let’s take a look at a few places that you can still throw a coat of paint on.

Motto: “All My Hope Is In God”

Construction of the elaborate, five-story Z-plan castle was begun in 1575 by Michael Fraser, the 6th Laird of Fraser, and was completed in 1636.

The castle was passed down through the Lords Fraser and then to the Mackenzie family who took the name Mackenzie Fraser. In 1897 the last male Fraser of the direct line, Frederick Mackenzie Fraser, died childless.

In 1921 his widow, Theodora, sold the castle due to the lack of a suitable heir and mounting financial difficulties.

The Dining Room table could be configured to accommodate most any number of guests.

Some of the last 16th century Jacobean carved woodwork in the country.

Through this cupboard is a grating that lets you listen to conversations in the Great Hall below. It’s called the Laird’s Lug(Ear).

This little hole let the Laird keep an eye on activities in the Great Room below.

The Peacock Room

The wallpaper in the Peacock Parlour is a rare survivor of the 19th century. Pineapples were considered hugely prestigious then.

Hot water was carried up three stories to fill this Oxford Tub. You were turned towards the fire with your feet hanging out.

The concept of the Frog Mug is that the surprise of seeing a frog at the bottom of your beer will cure what ails you.

Called the rich man’s disease, gout was caused by excessive meat, sugar and alcohol consumption.
These stools are for gentlemen to rest their swollen feet on.

Hunting was a huge activity. It seems they displayed and stuffed everything.

Even the dogs.

The View From Above

The key to any defense is seeing all around so nobody can sneak up on you. You need a good tower with a great view.

Tower Turret

Ghost Stories

One of the most haunted castles in Scotland, Fraser Castle is home to the ghost of a princess who was brutally murdered while asleep in the ‘Green Room’.

The Green Room

Her body was dragged down the stone stairs, leaving a trail of blood stains. Legend has it that as hard as the housekeepers tried, they could not scrub out the stains, and were forced to cover the steps in wood panelling, which remains today. She is said to still stalk the halls of the castle during the night. Over the years many residents have reported seeing her ghost throughout the castle.

Lady Drummond

Lady Marie Augusta Gabrielle Berenere Blanche Drummond, Frederick MacKenzie Fraser’s first wife, died of consumption in 1873. Sadly this marriage was not blessed with children and, apparently, her apparition has joined the murdered princess. Witnesses have seen the dear departed Lady Drummond in a long black gown stalking the staircases and castle grounds. Visitors and staff have also heard ghostly piano music, whispers in the empty hall and the sound of children laughing and singing, only to find that there were no children at the castle.

Side Notes

Some scenes in the 2006 film The Queen, starring Dame Helen Mirren, featured Castle Fraser as a backdrop.

For you fans of the Outlander series I should note that, although the gift shop is loaded with Outlander collectibles, none of the Tour Guides ever mentioned Jamie or Claire.

BruceWPeterson Photography

Explore The World

Tag Archives: Castles

The Time Machine

1995

Schwerin – the Florence of the North

The Wendi Files – 2018.1

A House With A View

While The Queen’s Away

In the Land of Lairds & Lords